Lakers Shootaround Report: Steve Nash Out, Dwight on David Lee

The Lakers will continue to be without their star point guard for tonight’s matchup against the Golden State Warriors. According to Mark Medina of the L.A. Daily News, after Lakers shootaround this morning, head coach Mike D’Antoni announced that Nash will be sidelined for his sixth consecutive game because of a hip/hamstring injury.

On Wednesday, ESPN’s Dave McMenamin reported that Nash was eying tonight’s game for his return. Unfortunately, what was originally thought to be a minor injury has hindered Nash since the initial discomfort he experienced in the Lakers game against the Golden State Warriors on March 25th. Since then, he missed the second half of the game against the Milwaukee Bucks, and played just two minutes of the Lakers win against the Sacramento Kings. The Lakers haven’t seen him out on the floor since.

Steve Blake will start again at point guard, although Kobe Bryant has taken on the majority of the facilitator role in Nash’s absence. Bryant recently admitted that he’s definitely felt more pressure without having Nash alongside him.

Tonight’s match-up against the Golden State Warriors will also feature another storyline. The last time these two teams met, Dwight Howard ended up having stitches in his lower lip after David Lee elbowed him in the face. Dwight was called with the foul since he was in the restricted area. After the game, Howard hastily said he would remember that shot and that he would “take care of it later.” Apparently, Dwight has thought twice about getting revenge on David Lee, according to ESPN’s Beto Duran.

Dwight Howard on “revenge” vs D.Lee “not going to do anything stupid to mess myself up. Right way to go about it is play ball”

Let’s hope Howard keeps his word. The Lakers are currently in the eight spot in the playoff race, but a loss tonight would put them neck in neck with Utah. The purple and gold can’t afford to give this one away.

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